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TTC Asks Community: What kind of TTC do you want?

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Aug. 27, 2007) - Beginning Monday, August 27, for two weeks, the TTC will ask Torontonians what kind of TTC they want - for today and for the future. There will be a survey online and in brochures on buses, streetcars, and subways. The survey brochure will also be handed out at stations, malls and at Humber College and University of Toronto, Scarborough Campus.

The TTC has been asked to make significant cuts to its budget for 2007 and 2008. Such massive reductions will force the TTC to cut service, raise fares, or both. Service improvements planned for this year, to keep up with ridership growth, have already been cancelled. One hundred new buses will sit idle indefinitely causing thousands of bus riders to endure continued overcrowding. Further cuts under consideration include the elimination of some bus routes and the closing of the Sheppard Subway.

"It's essential that we hear from the community - from the riders and from the people who subsidize these services through their taxes - before we consider making decisions about service reductions," said TTC Chair Adam Giambrone. "At its July 20 meeting, the Commission agreed that consultation with the public would help us make the decisions for the city's transit future.

"Service cuts are something we don't want to do, especially considering the unprecedented growth and momentum the TTC has built this year," said Chair Giambrone. "We must protect the system Torontonians have built together as much as possible, despite the unpalatable choices the Commission is faced with.

"Over the next two weeks, I'll be out talking to riders about the choices we have and encouraging them to complete the survey."

The survey can be accessed at www.ttc.ca and completed online. The printed survey in the brochure can be mailed back to the TTC, faxed back or dropped into boxes at any TTC station. The survey can be printed from the website in five languages: Chinese, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Tamil and returned to the TTC in the same ways as the printed brochure survey.